Holder for a conventional set of l-shaped wrenches



Jan. 8, 1957 G. W. D. COOK HOLDER FOR A CONVENTIONAL SET OF L-SHAPED WRENCHES Filed May 18, 1954 United States Patent HOLDER FOR A CONVENTIONAL SET OF L-SHAPED WRENCHES George Cook, Atlanta,-Ga.

Application May 18, 1954, Serial No. 430,512

2 Claims. (Cl. 206-16) The present invention relates to holders for conventional sets of L-shapedwrenches and, more particularly, of the Allen type wherein each wrench is normally hexagonal in section.

A- general object of'the present invention-is to-provide such a holder into which a graduated set of such wrenches may be fitted and securely clasped and held or racked, to be etiectivelyretained against loss andmisplacement while being readily manipulated therein or removed therefrom for efficient use.

A more specific objectof the present invention is to provide such holder means in the form of a clip' and clasp structure whereby the graduated set is snugly held in a generally flat plane while permitting one of the middle or intermediate wrenches to be manipulated so as to allow ready freeing of the other wrenches from the holder.

A further object of the present invention'is to provide such a holder in a form which may be readily constructed, suchas by being cut from a single sheetof metal with portions thereof then being bent to provide the clip and clasping means, and which permits efficient use and operation thereof.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understandingv of the nature and objects of the invention", reference should be had to'tlie' following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank which may be en'rployed to advantage in the construction of a referred embodiment of the holder of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of an embodiment of the holder of the present invention as formed by suitably bending the blank of Fig. l, and illustrating the retention therein of a conventional set of Allen wrenches;

Fig. 3- is a plan view from the opposite side of the holder shown in Fig. 2; and- Fig. 4 is a bottom end view of the holder and racked wrenches shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, in which like numerals identify similar parts throughout, it will be seen that an embodiment of the holder of the present invention may be patterned similar tothat shown in Fig. 1, preferably being cut out of or punched from a metallic sheet having some resiliency, such as steel. The blank has a base means 11 which preferably is in the form of a. generally L-shaped section having an elongated portion 12 defined by bend lines 13- and 14. Another base portion 15 is disposed substantially normal to elongated portion 12' and is defined by bend lines 16 and 17. The bend line 14 defines a relatively narrow outside marginal 2,776,744 Patented, Jan. 8, 1957 or outward along theoutside margin of. the elongated base portion 12 toprovide a clasp structure havingan. upwardly curved lip, as will be best understood from Fig. 4; The bend defined'at 13 may comprise a pairv of closely spaced bend lines, and they define a relatively wide marginal portion 20, from the elongated base portion 12. The portion 20-is, in the construction of the: holder, lapped back over the elongated base portion112 to form a top-clip panel, with a relatively'narrow. marginal flange 21- defined between its edge 22 and a bend. line 23. The edge 22 of flange 21 isturned down or inward toward edge 19 but spaced appreciably there'- from to provide a longitudinal slot of appreciable width.- Panel- 20 forms a clip cover of certain resiliency for the base portion 12 to clasp snugly therebetween in the resulting: laterally-tapered space a set of the ends ofa graduated group of Allen wrenches, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4;

The'bend'lirie 16' along theinside edge of the second base portion 15 defines a-marginal' flange 24 which is turned up to engage along. the outer side of the smaller end of the smallest wrench. Likewise, bend line 17 defines along the outside edge of the base portion 15 another marginal flange 25 which is turned up to engage along the outer side of the smaller end of the largest wrench. As will be understood from Figs. 2 and 4, the marginal flanges 24' and" 25 are bent outwardly or upwardly into C-shaped: claspingfianges, respectively to engage the shorter ends of the two outside wrenches, and may be shaped complementary thereto as will be understood from the dotted bend linesin flange 25 as depicted in- Fig. 1'.

It will be understood from Figs. 2 and 4 that a graduated set of Allen wrenches may be securely mounted or racked in the embodiment. of the holder illustrated in the drawing and such set of wrenches may comprise the larger one: 26;. the. next smaller one 27, and gradu ally increasing smaller ones 28, 29 and- 30, down to the smallest 31. An Allen wrench usually has an elongated end, such as that illustrated at 32 for the larger wrench 26,. and a shorter, right-angled end 33. The clip cover means, provided by the upturned marginal flange 18-, the overlying panel 20 and its downturned marginal flange 21', resiliently clas'ps the elongatedends of the set of Allen wrenches to hold them snugly in their relativejuxtaposed' positions against the base portion 12. Likewise, the two C-shaped marginal flanges 25 and 24 rea spectively grasp the shorter end 33 of the largest wrench 26 and the shorter end 38 of the smallest wrench to" snugly clamp therebetweenin juxtaposed relation or in common plane.

In order to manipulate one or more of the wrenches in the holder 10 for use, one may swing or rotate by force a shorter end 34 of wrench 27 outwardly from between the ends 33 and 35 of the adjacent wrenches and then slide its longer end 39 downwardly for projection, as illustrated in Fig. 2, to be socketed' in the hexagonal recess of an Allen set screw. Of course, shorter end 34, extending out at right angles from the holder, as illustrated in Fig. 4, may also be employed in that position to manipulate such a set screw. Such screw operations can be performed without removing the wrench from the holder, if desired. The outward swinging of the shorter end 34 of the intermediate wrench 27 from the dot-dash position 134, illustrated in Fig. 2, to a position substantially normal thereto is permined by virtue of the resiliency of the clip cover panel 20' which will spring away from base portion 12' with rotation of wrench end 39 and then back to clamp the latter in its second position.

Further, the snug clasp of the shorter ends of the wrenches between the C-shaped flanges 24 and 25 assures frictional retention thereof in a generally common plane adjacent the face of the base portion 15 during normal handling but permits such forced outward swinging of any one of the intermediate short ends to allow wrench manipulation. If, for example, the short end 34 of the wrench 27 is swung upwardly from the dot-dash position 134 and then its longer end 39 slid forward through the clip comprising base portion 12 and clip cover panel 20 to the position indicated in full lines in Fig. 2, a space is left between the shorter ends 33 and 35 of the adjacent wrenches 26 and 28 to permit the end 33 of the outside largest wrench to be moved down in the direction of the dot-dash arrow 40 to adjacent the shorter end 35 of wrench 28, thereby freeing end 33 from the C-shaped marginal flange 25. This, of course, then allows the shorter end 33 of the largest outside wrench 26 also to be swung out through ninety degrees (90) to extend normally from the base 11 of the holder 10. If, then, the space between end 41 of C- shaped marginal flange 25 and the plane of the marginal flange 18 is of a width greater than the width of the longer end 32 of outside largest wrench 26, that space may serve as a way or notch through which wrench end 32 may be readily withdrawn axially backwards from the space 120 between base portion 12, clip panel 20 and clasping flange 18, as illustrated in dot-dash lines at 126 and 133 in Fig. 2. After the largest wrench 26 is then freed from the holder 10, the others, of course, can then be removed easily so that the entire set may be readily freed from the holder. It is to be understood, of course, that freeing of the largest wrench 26 in the manner indicated is not limited to that manipulation of the next adjacent wrench 27, since similar manipulation of any of the'other intermediate wrenches may provide suificient space to allow the shorter end 33 of the largest outside wrench to be moved down from beneath the outside marginal flange 25 a distance willcient to allow it thereafter to be swung out to the normal position for subsequent withdrawal.

As is best seen from Fig. 4, the space between the edge 19 of the upturned base portion flange 18 and the downturned edge 22 of the cover panel marginal flange 21 is in the form of a longitudinally-extending slot of appreciable width. The holder of the present invention is to be made from a blank of resilient material, such as metal or plastic of some rigidity. Thus those opposed marginal flange edges 19 and 22 may be spread apart with resilient spring of the sections which define the laterally-tapered space 120 if suitable leverage is applied. For example, the longer end 32 of the largest wrench 26 may be quickly freed from the space 120 by applying lateral force to the wrench end 32 in the vicinity of the juncture thereof with its shorter end 33 in the direction of the arrow 42 in Fig. 2 (after freeing end 33 from the C-shaped flange 25 in the manner described above). This may be done by simply rotating the shorter end 33 through about 180 to the outer side and then pulling thereon. Such pull levers the wrench end 32 through the elongated side slot between the edges 19 and 22, and this method of demounting the larger wrench may be preferred by some to axial withdrawal up through the corner notch. Likewise, the other wrenches may be successively levered through the side slot in similar fashion. Thus, in order to free the shorter ends of the wrenches from between the C-shaped flanges 24 and 25 flanking the shorter arm of the L- shaped base portion, one swings upwardly through about 90 the shorter end of any one of the intermediate wrenches and moves it inward toward the cover panel 20 permitting the shorter end 33 of the largest wrench 26 to be moved inward free from the flange 25, Thereafter, this shorter end of the larger wrench 26 can then be swung upwardly to permit removal of the longer end 32 of the largest wrench either by axial withdrawal through the corner notch or by leverage out through the side slot, as may be desired. This frees the other wrenches in the holder so that their loose disposition permits ready removal by a variety of manipulations.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efiiciently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions with out departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description, or shown in the accompanying drawing, shall be in terpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all state ments of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might besaid to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

a 1. A holder for and a set of graduated Allen wrenches comprising, in combination, an L-shaped substantially flat base plate having front and back faces and an elongated portion and a second portion extending laterally to one side from and substantially normal to said elongated portion with both portions disposed in a common flat plane, resilient clip means on said elongated base portion spaced outwardly from the front face thereof and providing therebetween a laterally-tapered space snugly receiving and clasping the longer ends of said set of wrenches racked therein in graduated order, and clasping means on opposed marginal edges of said second base portion parallel with and engaging only the outer sides of the shorter ends of the smallest and largest of said wrenches on the opposite sides of the racked set with the remainder of the set snugly held therebetween by frictional interengagement while permitting any one of the latter intermediate shorter wrench ends to be force rotated to a normal extending position relative to the general plane of the racked set to provide an intermediate space to which an adjacent wrench shorter end may he slid to free a wrench shorter end from one of said marginal clasping means for removal of wrenches from the holder, said wrenches having their longer and shorter ends seating on the faces of said portions of said base means and arranged together in a general common flat plane, said resilient clip means being connected to the inside marginal edge of the elongated portion of said L-shaped base plate and lapped back over the latter toward the outside edge of this elongated portion to provide the intervening laterally-tapered space, the outside edges of said elongated portion and said clip means being turned inwardly toward each other but being appreciably spaced to provide a relatively wide longitudinal slot along the outer side of the tapered space through which the juxtaposed longer end of the larger wrench may be levered.

2. A holder for and a set of graduated Allen wrenches comprising, in combination, an L-shaped base plate hav ing an elongated portion and a second portion arranged substantially at right angles to the latter with both lying substantially in a common plane, an upturned marginal clasping flange flanking the outside edge of said elongated base portion receiving thereagainst the longer end of the largest of a set of graduated Allen wrenches, a relatively wide clip panel extending from the inside marginal edge of said elongated base portion outward and over toward said marginal clasping flange and having a downturned marginal clasping flange opposed to and spaced from the latter to provide a longitudial slot of appreciable width, said elongated base portion and said clip panel providing therebetween a laterally-tapered space snugly receiving and resiliently clasping the longer ends of said set of wrenches racked therein in graduated order,

a marginal clasping flange turned up along the inside edge of said second base portion receiving therein the shorter end of the smallest of the set of wrenches, and another marginal clasping flange turned up along the outside edge of said second base portion receiving therein the shorter end of the largest of the set of wrenches, the distance between said marginal clasping flanges flanking said second base portion being such that said flanking flanges clamp snugly therebetween the juxtaposed shorter ends of the set of wrenches in frictional face-to-face engage ment for maintenance in a common racked plane while permitting an intermediate one of said wrench shorter ends to be swung outwardly for providing intervening space between adjacent wrench shorter ends to permit the shorter end of the largest wrench to be moved inward 10 free from engagement with the outside marginal clasping flange of said second base portion, whereby the longer end of the larger wrench may be levered through said slot with resilient separation of the turned edges defining the slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,083,130 Sundberg June 8, 1937 2,181,764 Murray Nov. 28, 1939 2,236,333 Cowles Mar. 25, 1941 2,509,507 Kane May 30, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 655,633 France Dec. 18, 1928 

